Transcript for Pope's Successor Needs to be 'Attuned to Modern Communication'

George? Thanks, david. I'm here with cardinal wuerl of washington, d.C. Good to be with you. What a powerful moment. We saw something we've never seen before, a pope saying good-bye. A historic moment. I think everyone will remember this because it hasn't happened, certainly, in this way, ever before. And to say good-bye and to hear the pope tell us that his ministry is something that he has given to the church to god. And it was simply time, now, to conclude it. It was beautiful. It was moving. It really tugs at the heart. But he also reminded us, the church moves on. It just has to continue with its work. You have the duty, share the duty, of choosing the next pope. What's the most important quality you're looking for? I think I would like to see in the successor to benedict, that spiritual quality that keeps focused on the mission of the church, which ultimately, radically, is spiritual. There's so many challenges today. But the real work of the church is simply to tell people, god is with us. Many have said the church needs a real manager who can clean up the vatican, overcome some of the scandals. I would think that, if the pope is focused on the spiritual mission, he can always see that there are enough people to do what needs to be done to get everything the way it should be. But I wouldn't want to concentrate just on managerial skills. That's something you can take care of. The focus has to be on the real mission of the church. I flew over with cardinal dolan of new york. He said, just before he left, that he was coming here in the spirit of repeance. Do you think that's something many of the cardinals share? I think we come in a spirit of connectedness with the history of the role of peter. The reason we're electing -- the task is to keep that continuity, to keep us connected with peter and therefore with christ. But in a modern world. A very, very modern world. That's one of the reasons why the new pope is going to have to be very attuned to modern communications. He's going to have to be able to be present to the world in ways that no pope in the past ever was. We have all of this electronic, social media. The pope is going to have to be versed in that. You said it's a fantasy to think that you yourself were chosen as pope. I think we have to stay in the real world. And the real world doesn't include me. What are the chances of an american? Of cardinal dolan? Or cardinal o'malley of boston? The conventional wisdom, which I think is correct, is a pope from the superpower would probably have a lot going against him when he's trying to present a spiritual message to the rest of the world. The united states is a grand and glorious and great country. But the pope has to be able, at times, to speak a spiritual challenge even to the united states. And so, I'm not sure that it would be the wisest thing to have an american pope. Cardinal wuerl, thank you very much for your time. Good to be with you. God bless you.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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